Some shows, like the Kenai Performers’ upcoming production of “Little Women,” involve an assemblage of elaborate costumes and sets.
Not the one-woman show “Grounded,” by George Brant. The Kenai Performers are bringing it to the stage and screen this weekend and next.
AnnMarie Rudstrom is the play’s main, and only, character.
“There is a lot more pressure, I feel like, on me," she said. "When you’re acting with other actors, you develop a relationship and trust and you can bounce emotions and lines off each other, or if somebody gets off track you’ll help each other get back on. But on the other hand, as people keep telling me, no one will know if you switch things around. As long as you can keep your cool and your calm, you will sort it out."
Throughout the show’s uninterrupted 90 minutes, all eyes are on Rudstrom, who plays an unnamed fighter pilot trading in her plane for a desk when she becomes pregnant. That wears on her as she juggles family with the harshness of a far-away war.
Director Rebecca Gilman said it’s a different kind of show for the Kenai Performers.
“We deal with violence, sexuality," she said. "There’s strong language throughout. So it’s definitely kind of an edgier, more modern theatrical production then some of the other stuff we’ve done before.”
The production is sandwiched between two Kenai Performers shows, “Murder in the Cathedral” and “Little Women.” Gilman and Rudstrom are both part of “Little Women,” which goes up in May.
They started rehearsing “Grounded” last fall but paused until January when COVID-19 case rates were rising.
Hannah Tauriainen is the show’s stage manager and Ian McEwan is sound designer. That’s a particularly important job in this show.
“Since the sound and lights are really the only other two characters that she gets to interact with besides just herself," Gilman said.
Rudstrom said it gives her a lot of room to play on stage. She’s not a pilot herself but her character’s emotional journey isn’t so foreign.
“She’s a working mother, I’m a working mother," she said. "And I’m a teacher, an elementary teacher, which is completely different than being in the military. But I remember when I was teaching kindergarten and I had a kid in kindergarten, and I was steeped in this world and never able to escape and sort of feeling that something was sitting on your chest, like ‘Oh, I just can’t handle this all the time." And she definitely has that feeling.
"But hers is a little different because she switches from being intense, hunting down the bad guy or the target, and then going home to her husband and her daughter and kind of flipping," she added.
It’s a fast-paced show. Rudstrom loves the script.
“I think people should give something different a try and come see it," she said.
“Grounded” goes up tomorrow, at the Kenai Performers building on K-Beach Road. As was the case with “Murder in the Cathedral,” Rudstrom will get tested for COVID-19 before the performances and members of the 50-person audience will be required to wear masks.
There’s also a pre-recorded version of the show for an online audience that will be available the duration of the run, until midnight on March 27. All of that’s available at kenaiperformers.org.
